....or at least to the underside of our altar table!

Living in the tropics I know that cockroaches are around - but I cannot abide them and would rather not have them in my house, thank you very much!! We had our house sprayed before we moved in three years ago and touch wood it has not been an issue in the house.A month or so ago we had one in the pila, the large stone sink in the outside laundry area. I was just taking some washing out to the machine, it was dark, and out of the corner of my eye I became aware of something moving. Running around the bottom of the pila (a large concrete sink for washing clothes and/or storing water) was a huge cockroach! If you want to see what a traditional Salvadoran sink looks like take a look at my friend Jenny's blog post about her pila.Eeeeek!

I tried spraying it but it kept running! I shouted for Papicito and he declared that he didn't know what all the fuss was about, as he dropped a plastic bowl on top of the now flagging cucaracha. By the time our maid arrived ten hours later it was well and truly dead and I left her to dispose of it!I am always nagging Papicito to keep the drain plug in the shower closed in case bugs climb up into the bathroom, and he always laughs at me. The maid is as bad - she nearly always forgets to put them back after cleaning. If I see one missing I always put it back. Mamasita - cockroach police!!Fast forward a month and Papicito was getting the water warmed up so that he and Chiquitito could take a shower. He lifted the drain cover out of the shower, as he says the water doesn't drain as fast with it in, and as he did so a huge cockroach launched itself out of the drain, like a rocket being launched to the moon!Now Papicito doesn't scream like I do (not a man thing I'm told) but he did sprint out of the bathroom looking startled. I asked him what was up and he had to admit there was a cockroach and he needed something to catch it in. The roach took these few seconds to make a run for it and hid behind the bathroom bin. Papicito returned with spray and a plastic container but it was nowhere to be seen.I couldn't believe he had been daft enough to leave the bathroom door open. Luckily our adjacent bedroom doors were closed - but where was Señor Cockroach hiding?Papicito got down on all fours with his trusted torch (he's a lot braver than me) and spied the runaway roach hiding under our Malaysian altar table that sits on the wall inbetween the bathroom and our bedroom! By this time I was not a happy Mamasita and was very glad when it was safely inside the plastic container!All that remained was to dispose of it into the bin, with the lid on the container screwed tight just in case it made one last bid for freedom!

I wanted a photo of our shower drain to add to this blog - not very exciting I know, but I never thought to get the camera out when the cockroach was on the loose! I asked Papicito to take the photos as I am now too nervous to even lift the drain cover - in fact I sit on the toilet looking to see if I can see any long wispery antennae poking out of the holes in the drain cover!At least I don't have to nag Papicito to keep the drain cover in place anymore!!

Update:

Pete Fordham via photopin cc

I felt like I had let you down by not being able to get a photograph of the runaway cockroach - trust me when I say that they are fast (and big).

I decided to search online for a photo of a look-a-like 'roach, so that you could experience the horror that I felt when I saw it!

I'm not sure what freaks me out most - their colour, the fact that they are fast, or those ridiculously long wavy antennae that bob along in front of them!

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Expat Mamasita

I am Expat Mamasita, a British expat living overseas. Wife to Papicito and mother to the ever twirling whirlwind otherwise known as Chiquitito.

It goes without saying that I love to write about all things child, expat and travel related, and in a bid to retain my personal identity and sanity I also love reading and writing about cookery, craft, jewellery and fashion related topics.

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